Air gauge extension



May '31, 1932. J. c. CROWLEY AIR GAUGE EXTENSION Filled Jan. 12. 1951 JIQ V Patented May 31, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT 4 oFFicE v JOHN C. CROWLEY, or CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE nILLIMAivu-l FACTURING COMPANY, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO AIR GAUGE EXTENSION Application filed January 12, 1931. Serial No. 508,105.

. wheel upon which the tire is mounted and the location of the valve stem.

Additional objects and advantages will be- 7 come apparent hereinafter.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings herein.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device showing an air gauge attached thereto. 7

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 1 and showing one of the air chucks of the device applied to a valve stem.

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are detail figures of'parts of the device. 7 p r V It should be understood at the outset that although the device is shown herein in combination with an air gauge and acting as an extension device for such gauge this is only one use to which the air. chuck portion of the device may be applied, since it is contemplated to provide air lines or air pumps with so a chuck member of the character disclosed herein. 1

In certain types ofmotor vehicle wheels the valve stems of the pneumatic tires on the wheels are so arranged and formed as to be difficult of access and it is hard to apply the Y chuck of the relatively short conventional air gauge to the valve stem. There are other typesof motor vehicle wheels such as dual wheels wherein the valve stems of the pneumatic tires are not only difficult to reach with the air chuck of an air line or of an air gauge, but also there being two valve stems on each wheel it is necessary to reverse the chuck after it has been connected to one tire in order to apply it to the valve stem of the other tire.

of the wheel. Furthermore, the angularity of the bends in the stems make it difficult to reach them with a chuck, and often the brake.

druminterferes with access to the stem of the inner wheel. a

' be the supply types'of dual wheels.

pressure fluid; The conduit 12'n1ay be of any suitable materialbut preferably it is formed of a rigid metal pipe or coupling and is curved adjacent to the airchuck member line of asource of supply of 10, whereby anyone using the device can hold the conduit 12 and apply the air chuck member 10 a valve stem, the curvature ofthe stemenabling the chuck to pass around the edge of the brake drum in the case of certain conventional form of air gauge is fragmentarily illustrated at 13 in Fig; 1; the spherical air chuck head 14 of the air gauge being shown secured to the air gauge attaching member 11. i

The construction of the air gauge iswell' known and will not be described in detail herein since per se it forms nopart of the present invention except in so far as the attaching member 11 cooperates therewith;

The air gauge'attaching member 11 is 1 shown for purposes of'illustration as sub-' stantially cup-shaped, with thejbottom portion of the cup relativelythick. I The wall of the member 11 is provided with an; opening the conventional air gauge13shownfherein';

usually embodies the spherical air chuck head 14 connected by a neck portion 14 to an enlarged annular flange 14 which in turn carries a reduced threaded stud enabling the n chuck head to be screwed into assembled relationshipwith the air gauge, a flexible'gasketf usually being clamped between the'fiange 14 sage of the gauge just above mentioned and a flared portion 13 of the gauge casing to provide an air-tight connection. It is, of course, understood that the air chuck head 14 of the gauge is provided with a suitable air passage communicating with the gauge. The threaded stud, flexible gasket, and air pashave not been illustrated herein since they are well known in the art and form no part oi the present invention. 1

The spherical air chuck head 14 of the gauge lies within the valve stem engaging side bearings upon a flexible gasket 16 on the bottom of the cup and with its neck portion 14 extending through the opening 15, the annularfla'nge 14 engaging the outer side of the cup wall and extending slightly abovethetop edge thereof.

The cup member 11 is interiorly threaded 'as indicated at 17 in Figs. 1 and 6 so that a into the member 11 to nut 18 may be screwed head 14 of the clamp the spherical chuck gauge ing a recess 19- on the inner side of the nut 18 cooperating with the chuck head 14. This arrangement enables the gauge to be quickly, easily and effectively attached to and deta'ched from the device. The gasket 16 is'provided with a central opening 16 communicating with the, air passagefin :the chuck head 14 of the gauge and with an air passage 20 in the member 11, this latter passage in turn connecting with a lat.- eral passage 21 extending to the outer side of the member 11 and threadedto receive the threaded end 12 of the conduit 12, or, of course, any other suitable coupling or fitting which might be mounted on the conduit 12.

Reference should again be made to the fact that it is fully within the purview of the each provided'with acounterbore 23 threadpresent invention to have the end 12 of the conduit connected to an air line or to an air pump in place of the gauge attaching member 11.

The other end of theiconduit 12'may be 7 threaded as indicated at 12 in Figs. 1 and 2 or it may be provided with a suitable threaded coupling or fitting, to enable the conduit 12 to be connected to the air chuck member 10.

The air chuck 1 member 10 is illustrated herein as being cylindricalin shape, although of course it may have different configurations, and is-provided substantially midway of its ends with a'passage 22 extending diametrally inwardly of the member 10 from the circumference or periphery thereof to apoint lying on theo'pposite side of the longitudinal center line'through theinember'. This passage 22 is threaded adjacent the 'circumferenceof the member 10 to receive the threaded end '12 of the conduit orthe threaded coupling above referred to.

The opposite ends of the member 10 are 1 and-2.

cup member 11 with its .of the counterbore.

between it and the gasket 16, there be ed at 23 adjacent its outer end and in communication with the passage 22 by means of a passage 24 flared outwardly adjacent the counterbore for a purpose later to become clear. A. packing gasket 25 is arranged in the passage 22 and normally covers the ports formed by the ends of the passages 24, such gasket terminating adjacent the inner end the passage 22, see Figs.

of the threads in A cup-shaped member 26' is arranged in each counterbore 23 of the chuck member 10 with its open side toward the outer end The members 26 each have a centrally disposed pin 27 either inte grally formed thereon or fixedly secured thereto, projecting from both sides of the bottom of the member 26, the portion of the pin 27 that extends from the under side of the bottom of the member being of reduced diameter and projecting into-the passage 24. The bottom of the cup-shaped member 26 is provided with a plurality of openings 28,. 7

see Figs. 4 and 5, such openings in the pres ent dlsclosure being illustrated as two in number and arrangedon diametrally opposite sides of the pin 27 but closely adjacent thereto. A'packing gasket 29 'is arranged within each of the cup-shaped members 26, this-gasket moving with the member 26 which has a sliding fit in the counterbore 23. The

member 26 is limited in its inward movement by the bottom of the counterbore 23 and is retained in the counterbore and limited in its outward movement by means of a ring nut 30 screwed into the counterbore upon the threads 23*.

The conduit 12 having been connected to the air. chuck member 10 and having'its op-- posite end connected to anair. line or to the air gauge'illustrated'herein the operation of thedevice will be as follows:

7 Either of the 'counte'rb'ores 23 inthe meme her-10 can be applied to the end of a valve stem of a pneumatic tire in the manner shown in Fig. 2. i/Vh'en one of the counterbores 23 of the'member. 10 is applied to a valve stem 31, the end of the valve stem engages V the gasket 29 carried by themember 26 in that counterbore and forms an air'connec tion between the member 10 and the valve.

stem. This engagement of the gasket 29 by the end of the valve stem moves the member i 26 with its pin'27 inwardly of the counterbore, the enlarged end of the pin 27 depress-,

sing the valve pin 32 of the valve insides within the valve stem to unseat the valve thereof, while the reduced end of the pin 27 passes through the passage 24 in the member'lO and raises the adjacent portion of the gasket 25 in the passage 22 (see Fig.

A continuous air passage is thus formedthrough the member 10 and the valve stem, placing the conduit 12 and the tirein communication with each other. It should benoted that when the member 26 is raised by its engagement with the valve stem that the openings 28 in the bottom of the member and adjacent the pin 27 lie within the circumference of the flared portion of the passage 24, whereby the passage '24 and the openings 28 form a continuous air passage.

Again referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, it will be seen that when the pin 27 raises the gasket 25 the opposite side of the gasket will be raised or pushed in the same direction and thus distorted into the opposite passage 24 thereby more efficiently closing such passage and preventing any escape or leakage of air at this point.

Before the chuck member 10 is applied to a valve stem the gasket 25 in the passage 22 effectively closes the ports to the passages 24 so that if the conduit 12 is connected to an air line there will be no escape of air through the chuck member. When the air chuck member is being used with an air line to inflate the pneumatic tires of dual wheels, or when such member is being used, as illustrated herein, with an air gauge in taking readings of the air pressure within the tires, first one counterbore of the member 10 may be positioned over or upon the valve stem of one of the tires and then the other counterbore of the member 10may be positioned over the valve stem' of the other tire without reversing the chuck member and thereby greatly facilitating either the inflating 01' gauging operation.

It has already been stated that on certain types of wheels the valve stems are located in certain positions that are hard to reach, and that often the stems are bent to various angles, and it need hardly be pointed out that the device described herein will greatly facilitate the reaching of such valve stems with an air chuck for performing a gauging or inflating operation. It might also be well to observe that upon dual wheelsthe valve stems are often oppositely disposed which necessitates that a person applying an air chuck to such stems is required to push the chuck upon one of the stems in a direction away from his position and in applying the chuck to the other stem to reverse the same and pull it toward his position. A chuck member such as has been described herein greatly 'facilitates the application of the air chuck to stems such as have just been mentioned and particularly since the curved conduit 12 thereof facilitates getting around the brake drum to the stem of the inner wheel.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described herein, it should be understood that the same is susceptible of various modifications and adaptations Within the scope of the append ed claims. 7

Having thus described my invention I claim:

disposed airchucks and an air passage inter-.

mediate said chucks, a passage connecting each chuck with said first named passage, a single means in said first named passage normally closing the chuck passages, and means associated with each chuck whereby when one of the chucks is applied to a valve stem the first mentioned means will be displaced and the passage in said chuck will be in communication with the first mentioned passage" while the passage of the other chuckwillbe more effectively closed.

8. A member having a counterbore in each of its opposite ends and a 'diametrally dis-.

posed passage open at one end and closed at its other end located intermediatethe counterbores, passages connecting said counterbores with said first mentioned passage, outwardly facing cup-shaped members movably mounted in said counterbores and having centrally disposed oppositely projecting.

pins extending from their bottoms, the inner ends of said pins extending into the passages connecting the counterbores with .the first mentioned passage, each of said I cup-shaped members having a packing disposed therein and being provided with an opening in its bottom, mean for retaining each cup-shaped member in the counterbore, and a gasket in the first mentioned passage and normally 7 closing the passages to the counterbores.

4. In a device of the character described, anair gauge attaching means comprising a substantially cup-shaped member having an opening in its wall and being interiorly threaded adjacent its outer edge, a gasket within the said member having a centralopening, said member having an angularly disposed passage communicating with the opening in the gasket and extending to the circumference of the member, and a nut adapted to be screwed into the open end of said member and having a recessed under side whereby the chuck head of an air gauge may be clamped between said nut and said gasket.

5. A member having a plurality of air chucks associated therewith, a common passage associated with said chucks and communicating therewith,a' packing gasket in said passage and normally, sealing communication between the passage and said chucks, and means associatedwith said chucks and arranged to displace said gasket when either chuck is applied to a valve stem to place the said chuck and said passage in communication.

1 6. A member having a disposed air chucks and an air passage intermediate said chucks, passages connecting each chuck with said first namedpassage, a packing gasket in said first named passage and normally closing the chuck passages and means associated with each chuck whereby when one of the chucks is applied to avalve stem the gasket will be displaced and the passage in said chuck will be in communication with the first mentioned passage while the passage in the other chuck will be more effectively closed. 7

7 A member having a counterbore in each of its opposite ends and a 'diametrally disposed passage open atone end and closed at its other end located intermediate the counterbores, passages connecting said counterbores with saidfirst mentioned passage, outwardly facing cup-shaped members movable mounted in said counterbores and having centrally disposed oppositely projecting pins extending from their bottoms, the inner ends of said pins extending into the passages connecting the counterbores with the first mentioned passage, each of said cup-shaped members having a packing disposed therein and being provided with an opening in its bottom, means for retaining eachcup-shaped member inits respective counterbore, and means in the firstmentioned passage normallyclosing the passages to the counterbores. v

. In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature.

- JOHN C. CROWLEY.

pair of oppositely 

